Goldman Sachs has derivatives positions worth 6.7% stake in UniCredit, filing shows

MILAN (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs has derivative positions in UniCredit equivalent to a 6.7% stake in the Italian bank as of Sept. 30, mostly swap and future contracts as well as call options, a regulatory filing showed on Monday.

The position, held through Goldman Sachs International and another nine subsidiaries, if exercised would make the U.S. bank a top investor in UniCredit whose single biggest shareholder is fund manager BlackRock with 7.02%.

Filings with Italian market regulator Consob also showed that Barclays holds shares and derivatives as of Sept. 30 in Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which if combined and exercised would give it a 5.3% stake in the lender.

The positions are held through Barclays Capital Securities Limited, Barclays Bank PLC and Barclays Capital Inc. They comprise a voting stake of just 0.92% while another 4.2% is long positions to be settled in shares.

(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Susan Fenton)